KEEP 
A  Discourse. 


^ 


A 
Ai 

0  i 

Oi 
0! 


o 

/ 

7 

U 

9 

4 

JTY 

3 

F 

74 

B45  K2 1 

1 

A  DISCOURSE 

-^DBLIYB!^BD  ^  AT  ^  BLANDFORD.  ^  MASS.f^ 


GIVING  SOME  ACCOUNT  OF  THE  EARLY  SETTLEMENT  OF  THE 
TOWN  AND  THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH. 


-BY- 


REV.  JOHN    KEEP, 

I" 

Pastor  of   the    Congregational  Church  in  Bla^idford 
from  1 80^  to  1821. 


I'RINTED    FROM    A    RECENTLY    DISCOVERED    MANUSCRIPT   COPY 
BY 

CHARLES  W.  EDDY, 

WARE,  MASS. 
1886. 


'         1      ' 


Blandford,  March,  20,  1821. 

A  History  of  some  of  the  interesting  evepts  respecting 
the  first  settlement  of  the  town  of  Blandford,  its  progress 
and  the  character  of  the  people  to  the  present  period. 

N.  B.  With  much  difficult}'  has  this  statement  been 
made.  The  Records  of  the  town  and  church  are  ver}'  de- 
ficient. 


Deut,   xxxii :   7. 


'RKMEMBER  THE  DAYS  OF  OLD,  CONSIDER  THE  YEARS  OF  MANY  GENE- 
RATIONS, ASK  THY  FATHER  AND  HE  WILL  SHOW  THEE,  THY 
ELDERS  AND  THEY  WILL  TELL  THEE." 


This  instructive  and  affectionate  language  was  addressed 
by  Moses  to  the  people  he  had  rescued  from  bondage,  and 
had  conducted  forty  years  through  the  wilderness  to  the 
borders  of  Canaan.  During  the  whole  of  this  period  he 
had  felt  for  them  the  deepest  interest,  and  so  long  as  life 
was  allowed  him  he  was  prepared  to  devote  himself  to  their 
benefit.  But  God  had  forbidden  him  to  enter  Canaan  He 
was  only  permitted  to  ascend  to  the  top  of  Pisgah,  and  to 
view  at  a  distance  the  fertile  country,  which  several  hun- 
dred years  before  had  been  given  to  the  seed  of  Abraham, 
who  had  alread}^  encamped  on  this  side  Jordan.  Fresh  in 
his  own  recollection  were  the  tremendous  scenes  they  had 
witnessed  previous  to  their  deliverance  from  bondage. 
The  toils  and  perils  of  the  wilderness,  the  entire  destruction 
of  all  who  had  crossed  the  Red  Sea,  except  himself,  Caleb, 
and  Joshua.  The  whole  book  of  Deuteronomy  is  his  fare- 
well address,  and  the  text  evinces  his  ardent  desire  that  the 
people  might  cherish  the  remembrance  of  what  had  trans- 
pired and  carry  with  them  to  Canaan  a  grateful  sense  of 
the  divine  goodness. 

Ever}' person  of  common  sense  feels  an  interest  in  knowing 
something  of  his  ancestors.  The  well  informed  mind  will 
eagerly  peruse  the  page  of  history  and  receive  from  the 
example  of  others  some  of  its  most  valuable  lessons  of  in- 
struction. But  a  small  portion  of  what  transpires  in  the 
world  is  ever  recorded.  The  occurrences  of  the  domestic 
circle  and  the  more  public  transactions  of  a  town  seldom 
employ  the  pen  of  the  historian.  At  the  same  time  these 
scenes  furnish  the  most  interesting  events  that  ever  occur- 
red in  the  world :  and  although  they  are  not  emblazoned 
on   the   page  of  history,  we  may  dwell  upon  them    with 


delight,  and  as  we  cherish  their  remembrance,  impart  to 
each  other  a  rich  entertainment,  by  a  recital  of  what  our 
fathers  did  and  said.  And  as  we  drOp  a  tear  on  their 
grave,  awake  to  renewed  activity  in  the  instruction  of  our 
own  children,  that  they  to  may  talk  of  their  father's  works 
and  deeds,  and  treading  in  their  steps  may  walk  in  the  path 
of  virtue. 

In  presenting  to  you  the  history  of  this  town  I  shall  not  be 
able  to  enliven  the  narrative  by  much  variety  of  anecdote, 
or  to  enrich  it  by  a  continued  series  of  facts,  which  will 
awaken  to  any  considerable  extent  either  public  or  private 
interest.  But  to  the  most  of  you  the  little  which  I  can  give 
will  excite  some  interest  and  I  trust  prove  instructive  as 
well  as  amusing.  I  shall  probably  present  some  things 
which  might  better  be  read  on  some  other  day  than  the 
Sabbath,  and  in  some  other  place  than  the  desk.  But  I 
hope  the  tendency  of  the  whole  will  be  salutary  and  that 
the  impression  left  ma}^  be  such  as  to  make  the  mind  solemn 
and  to  awaken  gratitude.  My  statement,  imperfect  as  it  is, 
has  cost  me  much  time  and  labor.  Materials  are  scant}' 
and  obscure. 

The  original  records  of  the  town  were  burned  in  Boston, 
and  when  the  town  clerk  began  his  journal  he  was  far  from 
being  very  particular  or  lucid.  Jacob  Laeytoh  of  Suffield 
held  the  first  grant  of  this  town,  then  six  miles  square. 
He  sold  it  to  John  Fay,  Francis  Brinley  and  Francis  Wells 
of  Boston.  They  employed  General  Newburv  of  Windsor 
to  survey  the  town.  By  this  survey  it  appeared  that  the 
original  grant  covered  an  area  of  seven  miles  square. 
When  the  proprietors  petitioned  the  court  for  the  grant  of 
the  aditional  mile  their  request  was  allowed  on  the  condi- 
tion that  they  would  put  into  the  town  forty  settlers. 

This  was  then  a  frontier  town,  and  it  was  the  wish  of  the 
court  to  fill  it  with  inhabitants,  so  as  to  keep  the  Indians  in 
check,  and  prove  a  safeguard  to  the  older  settlements.  With 
this  specified  condition  the  proprietors  complied,  and  as  an 
inducement  to  the  settlers  to  encounter  the  dangers  and 
toils  of  a  wilderness,  they  gave  to  each  of  the  first  forty 
or  fifty  families  two  sixty-acre  lots,  one  for  each  upon  the 
main  street  as  it  now  runs  through  the  town,  and  one  each 
in  the  second  division  of  lots.  All  these  families  came  from 
the  town  of  Hopkinton  and  its  vicinity,  about  thirty-four 
miles  from  Boston.  After  they  had  formed  their  company 
in  Hopkinton  and  resolved  upon  the  expedition,  they  sent 
a  few  young  men  as  pioneers,  to  mark  the  course  and  to 
erect  a  few  log  huts  for  the  temporar}^  accommodation  of 


the  company  upon  their  first  arrival.  These  youths 
reached  the  centre  of  the  town  the  last  of  April.  The  day 
of  their  arrival  a  snow  storm  commenced  and  continued 
three  days,  collecting  at  the  depth  of  between  three  and 
four  feet.  They  were  ten  miles  from  Westfield,  the  near- 
est settlement,  and  seven  miles  from  the  nearest  house. 
I  need  not  tell  you  what  must  have  been  their  feelings  in 
the  wilderness  in  such  circumstances.  No  shelter  except 
what  they  could  form  by  the  boughs  of  trees,  no  fire  to 
warm  their  bodies  or  food,  except  what  they  would  make 
by  some  rock  or  stone.  Happily  for  them  the  cold  soon 
subsided,  and  in  about  four  days  the  snow  was  so  much 
melted  as  to  permit  them  to  pursue  their  business  of  felling 
trees  and  burning  them,  and  of  erecting  log  huts  for  the 
generous  reception  of  their  friends  whom  they  left  in  Hop- 
kinton. 

As  nearly  as  I  can  ascertain  the  fact,  the  tirst  families 
moved  into  the  town  in  the  autumn  of  1735.  In  the  follow- 
ing spring  the  residue  of  the  company  arrived.  They 
made  their  settlement  upon  the  main  street  which  now  runs 
through  the  town.  The  name  of  the  man  who  first  came 
with  his  family  into  town  was  Hugh  Black.  He  settled  on 
the  place  where  Captain  Luke  Osborn  lived  aud  died.  On 
this  spot  stood  the  first  house  ever  inhabited  in  this  town. 
Here  commenced  the  civilization  of  the  wilderness  in  the 
immense  tract  of  countr^^  which  overspread  these  moun- 
tains. 

The  next  man  who  came  with  his  family  was  James 
Baird.  He  erected  his  dwelling  upon  the  lot  where  the 
house  stands  which  is  now  occupied  by  William  Sanderson. 
A  distance  of  nearly  four  miles  from  Mr.  Black,  the  only 
English  family  in  town.  To  us  it  is  a  matter  of  siu'prise 
that  the  two  families  did  not  settle  in  the  same  neighbor- 
hood. But  it  is  commonly  the  fact  that  those  who  have  the 
enterprise  and  hardihood  to  penetrate  with  families  into  a 
wilderness  manifest  great  fondness  for  independence,  and 
choose  to  settle  where  surrounding  improvements  may 
testify  my  hand  has  done  all  this. 

At  the  house  of  Hugh  Black  the  proprietors  began  to 
number  the  farms  which  they  designed  to  give  to  the  first 
fifty  families.  The  settlers  drew  lots  for  the  choice,  and  I 
have  it  in  my  power  to  give  you  the  names  of  the  twenty- 
five  who  obtained  the  farms  upon  the  west  side  of  the  pre- 
sent town  street.  Beginning  with  Mr.  Black,  Elder 
Reed  was  next,  then  Thomas  McClentock,  Mr.  Tag- 
gart,     Mr.    Brown,    Mr.     Anderson,     Armor     Hamilton, 


Rev.  Mr.  McClentock,  Robert  Black,  Mr.— Wells, 
now  occupied  by  Captain  Watson,  Matthew  Blair, 
Elder  Stewart,  John  Hamilton,  James  Montgomerj-,  two 

lots,  John  Boies,  Samuel  Ferguson,   Brown,   David 

Campbell,  Deacon  William  Bo'ies,  Robert  Wilson,  Robert 
Sinnet,  Robert  Young  and  William  Knox.  Most  of  these 
persons  here  named  settled  upon  the  lots  they  drew.  In 
some  instances  an  exchange  was  made,  and  in  some  in- 
stances a  sale.  We  perceive,  that  on  some  of  the  lots, 
descendants  of  the  same  name  reside. 

The  north  lot  taken  up  was  the  one  which  is  now  partly 
occupied  by  Israel  Gibbs.  The  whole  distance  between 
the  house  there  and  Montreal  in  Canada  was  one  trackless 
wilderness,  without  a  single  English  family.  A  fort  had 
been  erected  at  Williamstown,  another  at  Crown  Point. 
But  they  were  occupied  only  by  a  few  soldiers  in  time  of 
war.  The  first  framed  house  was  built  upon  the  lot  now 
occupied  by  Captain  Elijah  Knox.  The  team  which  drew 
the  first  cart  that  entered  the  town  was  driven  by  Israel 
Gibbs,  the  father  of  deacon  Ephriam  Gibbs,  who  still  sur- 
vives. Mr.  Gibbs  made  his  settlement  on  the  place  now 
occupied  by  Samuel  Boies.  I  cannot  ascertain  how  many 
families  came  on  with  this  team.  The  day  the}"  started  from 
the  place  now  bearing  the  name  of  Sacket's  Tavern,  at  the 
foot  of  the  mountain,  they  travelled  about  two  miles  and 
encamped  for  the  night  in  the  woods.  The  next  day  the}' 
succeeded  in  reaching  the  top  of  Birch  Hill,  and  encamped 
again  for  the  night,  where  beasts  of  prey  roamed,  and 
venomous  reptiles  denned.  The  third  dav  they  reached 
the  log  house  on  the  lot  where  John  Hamilton  now  lives, 
and  found  a  comfortable  lodgment  in  the  bosom  of  friends. 
A  portion  of  them  were  going  still  further  north.  The 
place  which  is  now  termed  the  Causeway  was  then  a  thick 
hemlock  swamp.  The  whole  of  the  next  day  was  occu- 
pied in  getting  through  this  swamp.  One  of  the  most 
athletic  of  the  men,  James  Baird,  was  so  fatigued  that  im- 
mediately after  he  had  left  the  swamp,  he  lay  down  under  a 
hemlock  tree  and  there  retired  till  morning.  Some  state 
that  his  family  of  eight  persons  remained  with  him.  The 
others  of  the  company  urged  on  a  few  rods  further  to  the 
house  which  had  been  provided  for  them. 

In  a  similar  manner,  all  the  first  families  urfjed  their  toil- 
some  journey  to  then-  respective  places  of  residence.  Thev 
must  have  commenced  their  settlements  under  many 
disadvantages.  This  is  true  of  every  new  settlement.  But 
those  who  now  penetrate  our  western  and  southern  wilder- 


ness  have  it  in  their  power  to  command  many  facilities 
which  could  not  be  possessed  by  the  first  settlers  of  this 
town,  and  one  obvious  reason  is,  that  the  whole  country 
was  then  in  its  infancy. 

Some  of  the  first  settlers  must  have  been  men  of  great 
firmness  and  enterprise.  Others  were  irresolute  and 
poorly  qualified  for  the  adventures  of  the  wilderness.  For 
many  years  the  inhabitants  were  poor.  Often  did  they 
petition  the  proprietors  of  the  town  for  great  indulgences, 
and  the  general  court  for  grants  of  money,  salt  and  exemp- 
tion from  taxes.  As  it  was  the  frontier  town  the  court  was 
favorabl}^  inclined  toward  them.  In  1755  they  gave  the 
town  a  swivel  as  an  alarm  gun,  a  quarter  barrel  of  powder,  a 
bag  of  bullets  and  one  hundred  flints.  In  1758  the  court 
gave  the  town  five  pounds  for  the  benefit  of  schools,  and 
several  times  excused  them  from  sending  their  equal  pro- 
portions of  men,  as  soldiers  into  the  service.  Twelve 
years  after  the  town  was  settled,  it  was  voted  that  a  letter 
be  sent  by  Thomas  McClintock  to  the  proprietors  of  the 
town  to  lay  the  weakness  of  the  town  before  them,  and 
to  entreat  them  to  beg  his  excellency  entreating  that  help 
may  be  sent, — that  some  method  be  ordered  for  their 
boarding,  because  the  town  is  not  in  a  capacity  to  board 
them.  The  help  requested  in  this  vote  is  some  person  to 
preach  to  them.  And  it  is  evidence  that  the  people  at 
that  time  found  it  difficult  to  board  their  preacher.  Roads 
were  slowly  obtained,  and  this  with  great  difficulty  and 
expense,  and  communications  to  the  different  parts  of  the 
town,  as  well  as  out  of  it  were  attended  with  labor.  For 
the  first  years,  and  from  what  I  can  find,  for  about  ten 
years  the  inhabitants  were  obliged  to  go  ten  miles  to  a 
grist-mill  for  all  their  grinding.  This  would  occupy  a  day 
for  a  man  who  owned  a  horse,  but  many  had  not  this  ac- 
commodation. When  the  families  first  came  on  there  was 
little  hay  cut.  A  cow  and  a  very  few  sheep,  a  man  fore- 
handed could  keep  through  the  winter.  Hence,  many 
were  obliged  to  keep  their  horses,  in  the  winter  season,  at 
Westfield.  For  such,  it  would  be  necessary  in  order  to 
get  their  grain  ground,  first  to  go  after  their  horse,  then 
take  their  corn  to  Westfield  to  mill,  and  return  with  the 
meal,  and  then  go  back  again  with  the  horse  and  come 
home  on  foot.  This  would  make  a  man  sixty  miles  travel 
to  get  home  to  his  family  with  one  grist  of  meal.  This  was 
a  common  occurrence  in  the  first  settlement  of  this  town. 
The  first  grist-mill  which  did  much  business,  was  erected, 
I  believe,  in  the  3^ear  1755,  about  twenty  years    after  the 


8 

town  was  settled.     It  stood  upon  the  stream  a  little  below 
where  Deacon  Smith  now  resides. 

These  facts  respecting  the  grist-mills  are  of  special  im- 
portance to  enable  us  to  judge  of  the  fatigue  and  expense 
which  must  have  been  incurred  by  the  tirst  settlers  in  fur- 
nishing their  families  with  bread.  Indian  corn  was  the 
chief  support  of  the  inhabitants  for  a  long  time  after  they 
had  commenced  their  settlement.  This  grew  luxuriantly 
when  the  land  was  new.  The  first  frame  barn  was  built 
by  Israel  Gibbs,  thirty  feet  square,  and  the  rum  consumed 
when  filling  it  with  hay  was  less  than  one  quart.  For 
several  of  the  first  years  of  their  residence  here  the  inhabi- 
tants suffered  much  from  fear  of  the  Indians.  In  1749  ^^^ 
the  families  except  four  were  so  alarmed  as  to  flee  from  the 
town.  Some  to  Westfield,  others  to  Sufiield,  Windsor, 
Simsbury  and  Weathersfield.  Some  of  these  families 
returned  in  the  fall,  others  retired  till  the  next  spring  before 
they  returned.  Early  in  the  settlement  three  forts  were 
erected  for  the  safety  of  the  people  :  one  upon  the  lot  now 
occupied  by  Captain  Elijah  Knox,  the  other  where  Mr. 
Tuttle  now  lives,  and  the  other  the  lot  occupied  by  Samuel 
Boies.  For  more  than  a  year  all  the  families  w^ere  col- 
lected every  night  into  these  forts  as  a  safe  lodging  place. 
How  great  the  inconvenience  and  discouragement  of 
such  a  mode  of  life  I  And  after  the  people  presumed  to  lodge 
in  their  ow'n  dwellings  the  cases  were  frequent,  in  which,  up- 
on an  alarm,  they  would  in  the  dead  of  night  hurry  wath 
their  families  to  the  fort.  When  they  were  in  the  field  for 
w^ork,  they  would  take  whh  them  their  arms,  set  one  as  a 
sentinel  while  the  others  labored  ;  nor  did  they  deem  it 
safe  to  meet  on  the  Sabbath  for  religious  worship  except 
they  took  with  them  their  arms. 

These  fears  and  dangers  attended  all  the  settlements  in 
this  country.  The  Indians  were  its  original  owners  and 
they  were  unwilling  to  be  driven  back.  Hence,  frequent 
bloody  Indian  wars.  As  the  event,  however,  proved  the 
inhabitants  of  the  mountains  were  not  so  much  exposed  to 
Indian  warfare  and  depredations.  The  banks  of  rivers 
were  the  common  resort  of  the  Indians,  and  the  mountains 
w^ere  considered  by  them  as  groun<i  on  which  they  might 
occasionally  hunt.  Many  in  the  river  towns  were  killed 
by  the  Indians.  My  father's  grand-father  w^as  shot  on 
Sabbath  morning  when  with  his  wife  upon  the  farm  horse 
he  was  riding  to  Springfield  to  attend  meeting.  But  I 
cannot  learn  that  a  single  life  was  lost  by  the  malice  of 
the  natives,  or  a  single  gun  fired  at  any  of  the  settlers  in 


this  town,  by  the  Indians,  Often  were  the  people  driven 
to  their  forts  by  false  alarms,  and  when  Indians  were  seen 
they  were  either  friendly  or  harmlessly  pursuing  their 
game. 

In  the  original  grant  of  the  town  ten  acres  were  reserved 
in  the  centre  for  public  uses.  In  1742  the  burial  ground 
was  laid  out,  and  all  the  inhabitants  of  the  town  that  paid 
rates  were  warned  to  appear  at  the  burial  place  at  8  o'clock 
in  the  morning  on  the  sixteenth  of  September  for  the  pur- 
pose of  clearing  up  the  ground.  Any  who  should  be 
absent  was  to   pay  a   fine  of  six  shillings. 

Very  limited  were  the  means  of  Education  which  the 
children  of  the  first  settlers  enjoyed.  Parents  taught 
their  children  what  they  could,  without  any  expectation  of 
an  opportunity  to  send  them  to  school.  The  first  school 
was  taught  b}'  James  Carter,  a  sea  captain,  in  the  house  of 
Robert  Black,  because  it  had  in  it  two  rooms.  For  several 
years  the  schools  were  kept  in  dwelling  houses.  Two 
months  in  the  year  were  all  that  could  be  allowed.  No  school 
was  taught  by  a  woman  till  about  1770.  Id  1762  or  '6^  the 
the  town  was  divided  into  three  districts,  and  a  vote  passed 
to  put  three  school  houses  :  one  where  the  house  for  the 
hearse  now  stands,  one  near  Andrew  Wilson's,  and  one 
near  Cornelius  Cochran's.  The  one  in  the  second  division 
was  not  built  till  the  year  after.  When  these  houses  were 
erected  the  people  made  such  advances  in  the  means  of 
education  as  to  be  willing  to  employ  a  teacher  three  months, 
allowing  one  month  to  each  district.  This  was  only  fifty- 
nine  years  ago.  In  1756  a  road  was  opened  between  this 
town  and  Great  Barrington.  The  journey,  however,  from 
one  place  to  the  other  was  hazardous.  Two  men  were 
known  to  have  died  on  account  of  the  fatigue  of  the  way. 
For  a  considerable  time  the  only  method  of  conveying 
heavy  articles  was  upon  a  dray. 

The  civil  concerns  of  the  town  proceeded  much  as  we 
should  expect  in  a  place  so  retired  and  where  inhabitants 
are  universalh^  engaged  in  agricultural  pursuits.  In  their 
town  meetings  the  attention  has  been  called  to  the  internal 
regulation  of  the  town  in  most  instances.  It  appears,  how- 
ever, from  their  records  that  this  people  have  not  been  in- 
different to  the  great  question  which  has  agitated  and  con- 
cerned the  country  at  large.  While  under  the  king  the}' 
were  loyal,  when  measures  were  taken  to  gain  from  parlia- 
ment a  redress  of  grievances  they  bore  a  part,  and,  when 
able,  sent  their  delegates  to  the  great  public  meetings,  at 
Concord,  Watertown  and  Boston.     In  many  instances  how- 


lO 

ever,  thev  pleaded  their  poverty  as  an  excuse  for  the  omis- 
sion. When  independence  was  declared  and  arms  against 
the  mother  countrv  assumed,  some  were  forward  in  the 
opposition  and  boldly  declared  their  loyalty  to  the  king. 
Hence,  committees  of  safety  were  often  appointed,  and 
several  were  forbidden  to  go  any  farther  from  home  than 
the  limits  of  their  farms.  But  it  does  not  appear  that  these 
men  occasioned  the  town  any  trouble  or  expense. 

The  town  cheertully  bore  its  expense  in  the  war,  furnish- 
ed its  proportion  of  soldiers,  and  sent  a  delegate  to  vote  in 
the  acceptance  and  ratitication  of  both  the  state  and  the 
national  constitutions.  For  the  benefit  of  those  who  were 
called  into  the  army,  a  hospital  was  erected,  that  they 
might  receive  the  small  pox  by  inoculation.  The  small 
pox  was  common  in  the  country  at  that  time,  and  for  several 
years  after.  But  the  dreadful  malady  seems  now  to  be 
almost  exterminated  trom  the  earth,  by  the  benign  and 
happ}'  effects  of  kine  pox  inoculation. 

Much  of  the  heavv  military  stores,  which  during  the  war 
of  the  revolution,  were  carried  from  Boston  to  Albany, 
passed  through  this  town.  And  previous  to  the  opening  of 
turn-pikes  upon  the  rivers  east  and  west  of  us,  the  main 
road  through  the  town  was  much  travelled.  In  a  few 
instances  some  individuals  have  refused  to  paj-  their  taxes, 
and  in  a  few  cases  the  town  has  been  involved  in  a  law- 
suit, and  in  one  instance  in  the  year  1776  rebelious 
feelings  rose  to  such  a  pitch  as  to  render  it  necessary  to 
appoint  a  committee  to  secure  the  glass  windows  in  the 
meeting  house. 

Till  within  iwenty-hve  years  the  town  meetings  have 
been  very  frequent.  The  method  of  doing  business  was 
both  awkward  and  slow.  As  an  apolog}'  for  this  it  must 
be  remembered  that  the  people  generally  had  enjoved  but 
little  opportunit}'  for  an  education.  From  the  records  it  is 
evident  that  the  people  were  often  divided  in  their  town 
meetings,  and  very  warm  in  their  feelings.  For  many 
years  did  the  custom  prevail  of  adjourning  the  meeting  to 
the  tavern,  a  practice  which  is  fraught  with  many  evils. 
If  business  in  a  town  meeting  is  properly  managed^  it  can 
ordinarily  be  closed  without  any  adjournment.  In  the 
year  1781  there  were  holden  twelve  regular  town  meetings 
(of  the  inhabitants),  and  all  this  to  do  but  a  little  busines's. 

It  is  worthy  of  notice  that  previous  to  the  year  1 787  by 
far  the  greater  number  of  town  meetings  respected  theiV 
religious  concerns.  Till  then  and  for  several  j-ears  after, 
the  supply  of  the  pulpit  was  managed  in  town  meetings. 


II 

Meetings  respecting  the  house  of  worship  and  preaching 
have  been  muhiplied  in  this  town  to  an  astonishing  extent. 

A  full  and  thorough  knowledge  of  the  character  of  the 
inhabitants  of  this  town  from  its  first  settlement  to  the  pre- 
sent day,  a  period  of  eighty-five  years,  may  be  obtained 
by  a  particular  and  attentive  perusal  of  the  journal  of  the 
town  clerk  of  those  meetings  in  which  the  religious  con- 
cerns of  the  town  were  transacted.  It  is  not  my  design  to 
pass  over  this  important  part  of  our  history.  I  have  confined 
myself  thus  far  more  particularly  to  the  civil  concerns  of  the 
town,  that  I  may  present  events  to  you  in  such  a  manner  as 
will  best  enable  you  to  retain  them.  In  giving  you  facts  re- 
specting the  religious  or  eccsleiastical  concerns  of  the  town, 
I  will  first  lay  before  you  the  history  of  the  meeting  house, 
and  then  the  history  of  the  settlement  of  ministers,  with 
which  will  be  interwoven  the  history  of  the  church. 

The  town  was  incorporated  in  the  year  1741.  Previous 
to  this  period  it  had  borne  the  name  of  Glasgow.  The 
inhabitants  of  the  city  of  Glasgow  in  Scotland  sent  word  to 
the  people  of  this  town,  that  if  they  would  continue  its  then 
present  name,  they  would  give  the  town  a  bell.  It  was 
the  design  of  the  people  that  it  should  bear  the  name  of 
Glasgow,  and  they  made  their  petition  accordingly.  But 
Shirley,  who  had  been  late  appointed  governor  of  the  pro- 
vince, had  just  arrived  from  England  in  the  ship  Blandford. 
In  honor  of  the  ship  he  chose  to  have  the  new  town,  which 
applied  for  an  act  of  incorporation,  to  bear  its  name. 
Hence  the  name  of  Blandtbrd  instead  of  Glasgow  was 
given  to  the  town.  But  this  application  would  not  have 
been  made,  it  is  supposed,  at  the  time  it  was,  had  not  the 
survey  of  General  Newbury  embraced  a  mile  of  more  im- 
portance than  was  originally  embraced  in  it.  Hence  by 
the  unexpected  gain  of  the  mile,  the  people  lost  their  ex- 
pected bell. 

The  four  men  who  were  the  original  proprietors  of  the 
town,  entered  into  covenant  with  the  first  settlers  to  set  up 
a  frame  of  a  meeting  house,  and  to  cover  the  outside,  and 
to  put  in  glass  windows.  This  they  were  to  do  for  the  peo- 
ple, beside  giving  them  the  ten  acres  of  land  in  the  centre, 
and  two  hundred  sixty  acre  lots.  The  frame  of  the  meet- 
ing house  was  set  up  in  1740.  The  men  who  assisted  in 
raising  it  were  the  most  of  them  from  Westfield  and  Suf- 
field.  The  frame  stood  one  year  the  sport  of  winds  and 
tempests  before  it  was  covered.  The  boards  which  were 
used  for  the  covering  were  brought  from  Southampton  and 
Westfield,    but  the  glass   windows  were    not  supplied  till 


12 


after  the  lapse  of  more  than  twelve  years.  Thirteen  years  the 
people  met  in  this  house  for  worship,  without  any  floor  in  it 
except  some  loose  boards,  the  earth  and  the  rocks  on  which  it 
stands.  Their  seats  were  blocks  and  boards  and  movable 
benches.  A  plain  box  in  the  side  where  the  pulpit  now  is, 
was  put  in  for  the  accommodation  of  the  preacher.  The  first 
floor  was  laid  in  1753,  four  years  after  the  ordination  of  their 
second  minister.  In  several  previous  3'ears  they  had  put 
upon  the  house  repairs.  In  1749  ^  committee  was  appoint- 
ed to  expend  a  grant  which  was  made  for  repairs,  and  in 
the  year  following,  another  committee  to  direct  the  first 
committee  how  to  manage  the  concern  entrusted  to  them. 
Hence,  it  is  probable  that  divisions  existed  on  the  subject. 
In  1750  the  town  directed  their  committee  to  borrow 
money  to  buy  glass  for  the  windows.  Three  years  after 
the  floor  was  laid  other  repairs  were  made.  In  1758  the 
roof  was  repaired.  In  1759  a  vote  passed  to  build  the  pul- 
pit, to  make  a  pew  for  the  minister  and  to  finish  the  repairs 
upon  the  roof,  and  to  build  seats  in  the  body  of  the  house, 
upon  the  ground  floor.  This  was  a  great  eflbrt  as  it  was 
carried  into  eflect.  I  am  unable  to  ascertain  in  w^hat  man- 
ner precisely  the  inside  of  the  house  was  fitted  up.  The 
best  account  I  can  get  is  this  :  The  bod}'  of  the  house  was 
designed  to  be  filled  with  seats.  But  this  was  not  actually 
accomplished.  Seats  were  made  next  to  the  pulpit  and  the 
lower  end  of  the  broad  aisle.  Two  pews  were  erected  in- 
cluding the  ground  on  which  the  posts  stood  w^hich  sup- 
ported the  gallerv.  But  these  pews  w'ere  not  built  till 
some  time  after  the  seats  were  put  up  in  the  form  which 
now  bears  the  name  of  slips.  It  was  next  allowed  to  in- 
dividuals w^ho  felt  disposed  to  occupy  the  ground  on  the 
walls  of  the  house  with  pews,  if  they  would  make  them  at 
their  owm  expense,  finish  them  at  the  end  of  a  year,  and 
build  up  the  wall  of  the  house  to  the  girts.  November  10, 
1760,  it  was  voted  to  lay  the  floor  in  the  front  gallery. 
The  next  year  the  gallery  timbers  on  the  side  were  put  up 
and  the  stairs  built.  In  1779  the  galleries  remained  un- 
finished. In  1 781  it  was  voted  to  take  up  the  seats  in 
the  body  of  the  house  except  two  next  to  the  pulpi*^,  and  to 
fill  up  the  ground  wath  pews.  In  the  following  year  the 
two  side  galleries  were  made  by  the  seats  taken  from  be- 
low, and  the  walls  ceiled  up  to  the  plates  of  the  house. 
In  1786  the  house  was  plastered.  In  1792  the  two  seats 
each  side  of  the  aisle  were  taken  up  and  four  pews  made 
in  their  place.  The  steeple  was  built  by  subscription  of 
individuals.     In   1789  the  tow^n  voted  to  give  the  subscri- 


Santa  Barbara 


THIS  BOOK  IS  DUE  ON  THE  LAST  DATE 
STAMPED  BELOW. 


Series  9482 


